A midwife who faced the prospect of being left infertile after undergoing treatment for a brain tumour has given birth to a daughter she calls her "miracle baby". Leah Fox fell ill while on her honeymoon in Barbados and needed a complex operation plus chemotherapy and radiotherapy which could have left her unable to have children.
However, Leah and her husband Andrew have now become parents to baby Clara - and the mum said the couple are "over the moon", adding: "She is so cute and our miracle baby."
Leah underwent brain surgery at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust in December 2021. The procedure - an awake craniotomy - was one of the most complex brain operations ever carried out at the trust, CoventryLive reports.
The surgery involves temporarily removing part of the skull so surgeons can access the brain and remove as much of the tumour as possible. Leah was kept awake, allowing surgeons to test regions of the brain before they were incised or removed.
She had only experienced limited physical symptoms from the tumour before experiencing a seizure in Barbados. “I had had my first ever tonic-clonic seizure during my sleep and woke up to paramedics," said Leah.
"I was taken to hospital and they wanted to see my records. I called UHCW on my mobile and asked to be put through to the on-call neurosurgery staff.
"Dr Cuthbert spoke at great length with the doctors in Barbados. When he came in to conduct a final assessment as I had my surgery, we laughed about the treatment he helped the Barbados team give to me."
Six weeks of radiotherapy and six months of chemotherapy were needed after the operation. But a review showed no growth and no changes to the brain as of June 2022.
Clara was born on June 9, 2023. She was conceived naturally despite Leah having her embryos frozen in 2021 at University Hospital Coventry's Centre for Reproductive Medicine.
Leah, who works at George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton as a bereavement midwife, said: "I cannot thank the team at UHCW enough. Staff understood what it is like to be a patient, facing life-changing surgery, possibly losing the opportunity to consider having my own family as chemotherapy can sometimes affect the ovaries.”
Leah added: "The treatment I have received since the team took over my care is incredible. It takes them all lots of drive, courage and compassion to continue to give amazing care to people each and every day."
